John Robert Crist
EDIT: Ive owned the laptop for 10 days now and have put it through its paces. I did end up coming up with a few points everyone should know that Ill list below. The first thing to know is that youre going to need to update your laptops firmware. Go to the Acer support site and download the 1.2 AND 1.3 updates for your firmware (which they incorrectly label as a BIOS update). Update to 1.2 *first*, then update to 1.3. Thatll solve a lot of stuttering and freezing you will come across, for example when a UAC prompt comes up. Next, I did reinstall a fresh copy of Windows to help with the stability of the system. I did this by using Rufus to make a Windows 10 installer USB (use Google for instructions). I then had to hit Start, Settings, Update, Recovery, and reboot into UEFI Settings mode. I disabled SecureBoot so I could boot the USB media, installed a fresh copy of Windows 10, then went back into the UEFI settings to re-enable SecureBoot using the .efi file in my new install. I then updated everything, installed the drivers from the website, and my laptop is far more stable than its ever been. I feel like this is an inconvenient step to have to take. I also feel that Acer should be more up to date with its graphics drivers. The Nvidia drivers that theyre running were released in December 2016, and you cant install the latest drivers directly from Nvidia because the graphics card will then fail to start. For these Im docking off two stars from my original 5-star review. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For reference, my comparisons are based on my previous laptop, an HP Elitebook 8760w that I upgraded with a GTX 980, 32GB of DDR3 RAM, a 2nd generation i7, and 3 SSDs in a RAID0 configuration I originally wanted this laptop because of the price point it was sitting at -- it was the only laptop available with a 1060 at such a low price point. My first concern during purchase was the build quality followed by the thermal design. The body feels aluminum but clearly is made of plastic internally. The finish is incredibly nice though it is absolutely an oil magnet. The joints on the screen feel extremely solid and the body shows no sign of flex. The power connector is at a 90° angle which I love. Next is the thermal design. The photos show large vents in the back of the laptop, but only half of those vents are open (the right-most side of the laptop). The other side is filled in. Id have liked if Acer spent more time making the left side match but I suppose itll do. During burn-in and at stock speeds the CPU maxes out 81°C and the GPU seems to top out at 67°C and doesnt appear to throttle back. The fans are configurable but on the stock automatic settings spin up to just over 6k RPMs. With such a wide exhaust in the back and what appears to be very large cage fans its hardly audible at full speed. The chassis (besides the exhaust port, obviously) doesnt perceptibly feel any hotter during full load than it does at idle. My laptop shipped with UEFI Firmware v1.1 and 1.3 was available. I wasnt able to install 1.3 directly and had to install 1.2 first, then 1.3. With my HP Im able to install the stock NVidia drivers but with this laptop Im not able to, which I assume is caused by customizations allowing for changes in screen brightness and whatnot. This isnt a deal breaker, though its bothersome that the driver Acer provides is over 3 months out of date. The backlight on the keyboard is *just* bright enough to be effective and no more, which I prefer in contrast to the backlit keyboard on my HP which is blindly bright at maximum. My 3DMark Basic scores at stock speeds were 3621 for graphics and 3822 for the processor, at an average of 3 runs. Ive not yet played with overclocking. I would absolutely buy this laptop again and have no regrets. Im incredibly impressed with what Ive gotten for the price Ive paid. I do intend to max out my RAM at 32GB and Ive thrown in a Corsair Force LE SSD into the spare 2.5" drive bay, but other than that, its perfect as is.